Curry comb type implement or shedder



1964 D. 1.. TOROW 3,160,142

CURRY COMB TYPE IMPLEMENT 0R SHEDDER Filed Oct. 17, 1965 INVENTOR.DOROTHY L TOROW HER Arron: Y.s.

3,160,142 CURRY (311MB TYPE IMPLEMENT R SHEDDER Dorothy L. Torow, 1850i)Hicks Road, Los Gatos, Qalif. Filed Get. 17, 1963, Ser. No. 316,837 1Claim. (Ci. 119-412) The present invention relates to curry combs, andpertains more particularly to a comb-like implement of a type generallyreferred to as a shedder, which is used for cleaning and grooming horsesand cattle, particularly for show.

In preparing an animal, such as a horse, for show, or for use in a trackor ring event'where the appearance of the animal is important, it isnecessary to get any loose hairs out of its coat, and to clean the coatthoroughly of foreign matter such as dust, and dried mud and manure.

In the pastyarious types of implements have been developed for thispurpose, such as, for example, the single bladed comb disclosed inPatent No. 431,490 of 1890. In spite of the age of this patent, combs ofthis type, known as shedders, are still in use today. Such combs arequite expensive to make in the limited quanti ties required by todaysmarket, are limited to a single tooth size per comb,'and when rusted ordamaged require replacement of the entire implement.

An object of the present invention is to provide an improved shedder foruse in grooming live stock, wherein two lengths of hack saw bladematerial are mounted in relatively endwise reversed, side-by-side,slightly spaced, parallel relation along an edge of a handle member withthe teeth of said blades exposed.

A further object of the invention is to provide a shedder with two equallengths of hack saw blade material inserted in parallel grooves providedlengthwise of an elongated, narrow edge of ahandle member, with theblades in side-by-side, parallel relation, and relatively reversedendwise thereof so that the teeth of the two blades are exposed and facein opposite directions, each blade being releasably secured in its owngroove by a jam strip inserted in such groove laterally adjacent theblade.

7 United States Patent 0 in width, and one inch in thickness has beenfound satisfactory. The handle member preferably is tapered at 14 towardthe edge 13 in which the two blades 17 and 18 are mounted to a thicknessof approximately one half inch.

The two grooves 11 and 12 for receiving the blades 17 and 18 preferablyare of a depth of approximately two thirds of the width of aconventional hand hack saw blade, which is of the order of one halfinch, and also preferably have their laterally outward sides separatedby a distance substantially less than the length of a hair of an animalto be groomed, for example, of the order of A or of an inch. Thus, whenthe shedder is being use as shown in FIG. 1, the teeth of the rearmostblade will engage each hair of an animal being groomed while such hairis still being engaged by the teeth of the leading blade, which actiongreatly improves the effectiveness of the implement.

The center land 19 between the grooves 11 and 12 is of a suitablethickness to provide the strength necessary to withstand the stresses towhich it is subjected in use, and a pair of insert or jam strips 20 forretaining the blades in place in their grooves 11 and 12 are of athickness to have a light to medium press fit in the grooves when theblades are mounted therein to thereby frictionally retain the blades inplace during ordinary use of the implement. The insert strips may be ofany suitable maten'al, such as Wood or plastic.

These, and other objects and advantages of the invention, will beapparent from the following description and the accompanying drawings,wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a shedder embodying the inventionas it appears in use.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view looking toward the blade mounting edge ofthe shedder shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a transverse, sectional view of the shedder shown in FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a corner fragment of the shedder shown in FIGS. 1-3 as itappears when broken away diagonally.

FIG. 5 is a view in reduced scale of the hmdle member with the bladesand jam strips removed.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a hack saw blade fragment of the typewhich provide the blades for the shedder, the broken lines showingportions of a broken hack saw blade which are removed in making theblade for the shedder.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of one of the jam strips which hold theblades in place.

Referring to the drawings, a curry comb A of the type known as ashedder, and embodying the present invention, is shown in its entiretyin FIGS. 1 and 2. The shedder A comprises a handle member It in the formof a rectangular block, and having two parallel grooves 11 and 12 alongone edge 13 thereof. The handle member 10 is of suitable material,preferably of low thermal conductivity such as wood or plastic so as tobe comfortable to handle in extremes of hot and cold weather.

The handle member 10 is of a size to permit it to be held comfortably inones hand, for example, a size of approximately 6 inches in length, twoand one half inches The blades 17 and 18 may be withdrawnfor renewal, orfor replacement by blades of a different tooth size, by grasping them,one at a time, by a suitable tool, such as a pair of ordinary pliers,not shown. The useful life of a pair of the blades 17 and 18 in normaluse is substantial, since the material fromwhich hack saw blades aremade is, as is well known, extremely hard and durable, as it must be forcutting the metal, such as iron and steel, for which such blades aredesigned. However, an animals coat usually contains a substantial amountof dust, and frequently also dried mud, and the particles of thismaterial have an abrading effect which tends to dull the tooth edges ofany curry comb type of implement.

When the teeth of a shedder A embodying the present invention start toget dull, and it is noted that the implement is beginning to lose someofits effectiveness in stripping dust, dirt and loose hairs from thecoat of an animal upon which it is used, the blades 17 and 18 may bewithdrawn from their grooves 11 and 12, and replaced with new blades.

Each of the blades 17 and 18 is made by breaking off from a longerpiece, as indicated in broken lines at 13" in FIG. 6, a length of hacksaw blade material of substantially the same length as the grooved edge13 of the handle member. Such breaking of the blade material can beeasily accomplished as by grasping the longer piece 15 of blade materialwith two pairs of pliers (not shown) on opposite sides of a desired lineof breakage, and then bending the blade laterally along this desiredbreak line. The blade material, being, as is well known, extremelybrittle, will break off approximately along such line. After the tworequired lengths of hack saw blade material have thus been broken off,the corners thereof preferably are rounded off as at 21 to avoidscratching an animal while using the shedder A.

The blades 17 and 18 thus formed are inserted in their respectivegrooves 11 and 12 in relatively endwise reversed relation, with theirteeth 22 exposed. A jam strip 20 is then pressed into place alongsideeach blade to retain it in place in its groove. The teeth 22 of the twoblades 17 and 18 thus point in opposite directions, which is important,since apparently the teeth of the leading blade facing in one directionclean and strip ofi the dirt from the hairs engaged thereby in adifferent manner from the oppositely facing teeth of the trailing blade.

The exact nature of the engagement of the individual hairs by the twosets of teeth in this manner is not completely understood, but in usingthe shedder A it is noted that it is much more effective in cleaning andgrooming an animal than any curry comb or shedder used previously. 4

In using the shedder A, it preferably is held in ones hand substantiallyperpendicularly to the coat of the ani mal as shown in FIG. 1, and isdrawn in rapid easy strokes with medium pressure in the direction of thelay of the hair. After thoroughly cleaning an animals coat, the shedderA may also be used in short twisting'strokes, in a manner well known tothose used to grooming animals for show, to produce a waved or curlyappearance of the coat. The shedder A is also extremely useful incleaning the mane or tail of an animal, such as a horse, since itthoroughly cleans the hairs and strips off any dried mud or manure whichmay be present to thoroughly clean and dress the animal.

While I have illustrated and described a preferred embodiment of thepresent invention, :it will be understood, however, that various changesand modifications may be made in the details thereof without departingfrom the scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claim;

Having thus described the invention, what I claim as new and desire toprotect by Letters Patent is defined by the following claim: i

A curry comb type of implement known as a shedder for grooming livestocksuch as horses, said implement comprising (a) a handle member ofsubstantially greater width than thickness and having a narrow,elongated edge, said narrow edge having a pair of parallel, bladereceiving grooves lengthwise therein, the side walls of the groovesbeing substantially parallel to the major mid-plane of the handlemember,

(b) a pair of toothed blades, each blade comprising a length of hack sawblade material of substantially the same length as the narrow, elongatededge of the handle member, and of a width greater than the depth of suchgrooves, each blade being inserted against a selected side of one ofsuch grooves, the blades being inserted in their respective grooves inrelatively endwise reversed relation with their toothed edges exposed,so that the teeth of the two blades face in opposite'directions, V

(c) and a jam strip fitted into each groove alongside a blade insertedtherein, each jam strip being of a thickness to frictionally retain itsassociated blade in its groove.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 711,423 10/02Greene et a1. 119-92 1,855,299 4/32 Lindenschmitt 30172 1,895,051 1/33Schneider 30-l72 2,546,577 3/51 Young '30172 2,800,879 7/57 Quick119--92 SAMUEL KOREN, Primary Examiner.

HUGH R. CHAMBLEE, Examiner.

